Millennia Media imersiv D1

I am surprised there is not more chatter about this Imersiv D-1 DAC on these forums, particularly given that it apparently has the twin attributes of good technical measurements along with good sound.  In addition to almost universally high praise, I have yet to read anything negative about the sound of this DAC.  The  latest review from Michael Lavorgna at Twittering Machines (link) judges the sound to be exciting, musical, and technically excellent.  He basically wrote that it performed and sounded better to him than his long-standing reference Totaldac d1 Unity.

It is curious to me that a product that for once may be (actually not imaginarily) a game-changer, has not garnered more discussion.  I am considering purchasing one of these DACs, but I have a couple of reservations so I look forward to hearing more as the user base becomes more widespread.

@mitch2 audition it first. This isn’t a blind buy. 

"audition it first. This isn’t a blind buy."

@audphile1 - Great advice. A couple of the vendors do offer 30-day returns but I typically have not taken advantage of that type of return policy and would rather be mostly sure the item is right for my system and preferences before purchasing one.

The unit itself is so different from the gear I have enjoyed most over the years that I need to convince myself that it might be worth it.  I am typically not a fan of the sound of pro audio inspired gear (i.e., Benchmark), and the two small PCBs inside of the Imersiv D-1, as well as its external SMPS, are the polar opposite of my current favorite/reference DAC, the 88-pound Aries Cerat Helene.  It may just be a matter of me overcoming my own skepticism of whether the user reports are too good to be true.

@mitch2 if your favorite dac is a tubed AC, the odds of you liking the imersiv are near zero. I’ve not heard it but someone who’s ears I trust did. That’s why I said audition it. 

Twittering says

You may also be interested to learn that the Imersiv DAC worked wonderfully with the RCA input-only Barn resident Leben CS600x using the same XLR-RCA adapters and cables. I know I was pleased as punch. Imersiv are careful to point out that the behavior of the D-1 DAC’s RCA outputs will be amp/integrated amp dependent and in some cases using them may result in audible noise which is when their UTB device comes in handy.

Do not use the RCA. That is a waste of the DAC. It does not work with my gear. I spoke to John La Grou about that, and short story, it is a feature not a bug.

BTW - My buddy Danny McKinney from Requisite Audio is sending the unit I burned in with 200+ hours for demo. It must have 400+ hours now. It definitely needs burn-in. I had 2 brand new units and know the process.

BTW2 - the D-1 sounds nothing like the Benchmark DACs, which I owned every iteration. The DAC3B for example is a little hot on top and sounds like most decent DACs. For me the D-1 is at a much higher level. I am comparing this to things like PlayBack Designs MPD-8, Allnic D-15000 Signature OTL/OCL, Meitner MA3i.